Where Does Jaguars' Robert Hainsey Rank Amongst Centers?

The Jacksonville Jaguars made a point to overhaul their offensive line this offseason, and the man at the center of that overhaul is Robert Hainsey.

A former starting center for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Hainsey stepped into a backup role after Tampa Bay drafted Graham Barton. But during that time, he clearly showed former offensive coordinator and current head coach Liam Coen a thing or two about his game.

Considering the retirement of Mitch Morse and the past struggles of former top-100 pick Luke Fortner in recent years, Hainsey is set to fill a key role on the Jaguars' offense. But how does he measure against his peers as he enters 2025?

Pro Football Focus recently ranked each of the NFL's top-32 centers entering the 2025 season, and they had Hainsey ranked at No. 23.

"After losing his starting spot with the Buccaneers to Graham Barton, Hainsey signed a three-year deal with the Jaguars, following his former offensive coordinator, Liam Coen. While we haven’t seen much of Hainsey over the past year, he did show flashes on a small sample size, posting a 73.3 PFF overall grade. That should be a positive step toward a return to form in Jacksonville," PFF said.

Hainsey clearly is expected to bring stability to the Jaguars' offensive line after signing a three-year deal this offseason, His experience with Coen is a clear key step forward. Now, it is time for him to prove it on the field.

"You get in there and they had struggled to run the football for a few years, right? He had been the center of that, and that was not something he was just, like, ecstatic about, right? He had he took that personal. He was really one of the voices in that room that I thought stood out all the way through and consistent as a leader, and as somebody that does things the right way, communicates at a high level, and when he does get on the field, plays his ass off," Coen said about Hainsey earlier this offseason.

"That's what he's done. Obviously, worked with Robert for the last year, really feel strongly about his leadership, the communication, and when he played for us this year against the Saints, go and watch that tape and you could see he was playing to prove it. He was playing to say, man, this is who I am. This is how I play it. Didn't work out for him this year, ends up, [Buccaneers C] Graham Barton wins the job and plays, but how he mentored that situation and that relationship while also communicating to the rest of the offense, that was really why we ended up wanting to go and do that.”